Ethiopian Airlines: 157 confirmed dead in plane crash

Ethiopia’s state broadcaster, EBC, confirmed this in an update Sunday morning.

The 149 passengers and eight crew were of 33 nationalities.

“We hereby confirm that our scheduled flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was involved in an accident today,” the airline said in a statement on Sunday.

“It is believed that there were 149 passengers and eight crew on board the flight but we are currently confirming the details of the passenger manifest for the flight,” it added.

The plane took off at 8:38am (06:38 GMT) from Bole International Airport and “lost contact” six minutes later near Bishoftu, a town about 60km southeast of Addis Ababa by road.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expressed “deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning.”

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta offered prayers for the family members and loved-ones of those on the plane.

“We are saddened by the news of an Ethiopian Airlines passenger aircraft that is reported to have crashed 6 minutes after takeoff en route to Kenya. My prayers go to all the families and associates of those on board,” Kenyatta said in Twitter.

The Boeing 737-800MAX is the same type of plane as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed last October, 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.